Joseph Breen
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Joseph Breen
Joseph Ignatius Breen (October 14, 1888 – December 5, 1965) was an American film censor with the Motion Picture Producers and Distributors of America who applied the Hays Code to film production.Staff report (December 8, 1965). Joseph I. Breen, Film Code Chief; Watchdog of Movie Morals For Years Is Dead at 75. ''New York Times'' Early life and career Breen was the youngest of three sons born to Mary and Hugh A. Breen in Philadelphia. His father had emigrated from Ireland and met his mother Mary in New Jersey. Breen was raised in a strict Roman Catholic home and attended Gesu Parish School until the eighth grade. He then attended Boys Catholic High School. He attended Saint Joseph's College but dropped out after two years, after which he worked as a newspaper reporter for fourteen years in Philadelphia, Washington, D.C., and Chicago. After working as a reporter, Breen worked for the United States Foreign Service for four years, serving in Kingston, Jamaica, and in Toron ...
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Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Since 1854, the city has been coextensive with Philadelphia County, the most populous county in Pennsylvania and the urban core of the Delaware Valley, the nation's seventh-largest and one of world's largest metropolitan regions, with 6.245 million residents . The city's population at the 2020 census was 1,603,797, and over 56 million people live within of Philadelphia. Philadelphia was founded in 1682 by William Penn, an English Quaker. The city served as capital of the Pennsylvania Colony during the British colonial era and went on to play a historic and vital role as the central meeting place for the nation's founding fathers whose plans and actions in Philadelphia ultimately inspired the American Revolution and the nation's inde ...
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28th International Eucharistic Congress
The 28th International Eucharistic Congress was held in Chicago, Illinois, United States from June 20 to 24, 1926. The event, held by the Catholic Church, was a eucharistic congress, which is a large scale gathering of Catholics that focuses on the Eucharist and other items of Catholic faith. The event was organized by Cardinal George Mundelein, the Archbishop of Chicago, and was the first International Eucharistic Congress held in the United States and the second held in North America. Cardinal Giovanni Bonzano served as the papal legate for the event. The event attracted a large number of people to the city, with most sources claiming at least several hundred thousand attendees. Large events were held throughout the area, at locations including Soldier Field, Holy Name Cathedral, and the Saint Mary of the Lake Seminary. Some sources claim that approximately 1 million people attended the closing day mass held at the seminary in nearby Mundelein, Illinois. The congress is ...
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Sinclair Lewis
Harry Sinclair Lewis (February 7, 1885 – January 10, 1951) was an American writer and playwright. In 1930, he became the first writer from the United States (and the first from the Americas) to receive the Nobel Prize in Literature, which was awarded "for his vigorous and graphic art of description and his ability to create, with wit and humor, new types of characters." He is best known for his novels '' Main Street'' (1920), ''Babbitt'' (1922), '' Arrowsmith'' (1925), ''Elmer Gantry'' (1927), '' Dodsworth'' (1929), and ''It Can't Happen Here'' (1935). His works are known for their critical views of American capitalism and materialism in the interwar period. He is also respected for his strong characterizations of modern working women. H. L. Mencken wrote of him, " fthere was ever a novelist among us with an authentic call to the trade ... it is this red-haired tornado from the Minnesota wilds." Early life Born February 7, 1885, in the village of Sauk Centre, Minnesota, Le ...
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Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc., also known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures and abbreviated as MGM, is an American film, television production, distribution and media company owned by amazon (company), Amazon through MGM Holdings, founded on April 17, 1924 and based in Beverly Hills, California. MGM was formed by Marcus Loew by combining Metro Pictures, Goldwyn Pictures, and Louis B. Mayer Productions, Louis B. Mayer Pictures into one company. It hired a number of well known actors as contract players—its slogan was "more stars than there are in heaven"—and soon became Hollywood's most prestigious film studio, producing popular musical films and winning many Academy Awards. MGM also owned film studios, movie lots, movie theaters and technical production facilities. Its most prosperous era, from 1926 to 1959, was bracketed by two productions of ''Ben-Hur (1959 film), Ben Hur''. After that, it divested itself of the Loews movie theater chain, and, in the 1960s, diversified ...
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Hollywood Anti-Nazi League
The Hollywood Anti-Nazi League (later known as the American Peace Mobilization) was founded in Los Angeles in 1936 by Otto Katz and others to organize members of the American film industry to oppose fascism and Nazism. It was run by the American popular front, and it attracted broad support in Hollywood from both members and nonmembers of the Communist Party USA (CPUSA). It ceased all anti-Nazi activities immediately upon the signing of the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact in August 1939. Foundation In 1936, the CPUSA allegedly ordered Otto Katz to raise funds and to found the Hollywood Anti-Nazi League (HANL). To kick off his work, Katz held a hundred-dollar-a-plate fundraising dinner, which was attended by, among others, Irving Thalberg, Jack L. Warner, David O. Selznick, and Samuel Goldwyn. John Joseph Cantwell, Archbishop of Los Angeles, was on hand to bless the proceedings. Actress and artist Gloria Stuart was also involved in the League's founding. Katz formed the HANL under ...
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Silver Legion Of America
The Silver Legion of America, commonly known as the Silver Shirts, was an underground American fascist and Nazi sympathizer organization founded by William Dudley Pelley and headquartered in Asheville, North Carolina. History Pelley was a former journalist, novelist and screenwriter turned spiritualist who, by 1931, had begun to promote antisemitic views, asserting that Jews were possessed by demons. He formed the Silver Legion with the goal to bring about "spiritual and political renewal", inspired by the success of Adolf Hitler's Nazi movement in Germany. A nationalist, fascist group, the paramilitary Silver Legion wore a uniform modeled after the Nazi's brown shirts (SA), consisting of a silver shirt with a blue tie, along with a campaign hat and blue corduroy trousers with leggings. The uniform shirts bore a scarlet letter ''L'' over the heart, which according to Pelley was "standing for Love, Loyalty, and Liberation." The blocky slab serif ''L''-emblem was in a typeface ...
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William Dudley Pelley
William Dudley Pelley (March 12, 1890 – June 30, 1965) was an American fascist leader, occultist, spiritualist and writer. Pelley came to prominence as a writer, winning two O. Henry Awards and penning screenplays for Hollywood films. His 1929 essay "Seven Minutes in Eternity" marked a turning point in his career, published in ''The American Magazine'' as a popular example of what would later be called a near-death experience. His antisemitism led him to found the Silver Legion of America in 1933, a fascist paramilitary league. He ran for president of the United States in 1936 as the candidate for the Christian Party. Pelley was sentenced to 15 years in prison for sedition in 1942, and released in 1950. Upon his death, ''The New York Times'' assessed him as "an agitator without a significant following". Early life Born in Lynn, Massachusetts, William Dudley Pelley grew up in poverty, the son of William George Apsey Pelley and his wife, Grace (née Goodale). His father w ...
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Anti-Semitism
Antisemitism (also spelled anti-semitism or anti-Semitism) is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who holds such positions is called an antisemite. Antisemitism is considered to be a form of racism. Antisemitism has historically been manifested in many ways, ranging from expressions of hatred of or discrimination against individual Jews to organized pogroms by mobs, police forces, or genocide. Although the term did not come into common usage until the 19th century, it is also applied to previous and later anti-Jewish incidents. Notable instances of persecution include the Rhineland massacres preceding the First Crusade in 1096, the Edict of Expulsion from England in 1290, the 1348–1351 persecution of Jews during the Black Death, the massacres of Spanish Jews in 1391, the persecutions of the Spanish Inquisition, the expulsion from Spain in 1492, the Cossack massacres in Ukraine from 1648 to 1657, various anti-Jewish pogroms in the Rus ...
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Liberty (1924–1950)
''Liberty'' was an American weekly, general-interest magazine, originally priced at five cents and subtitled, "A Weekly for Everybody." It was launched in 1924 by McCormick-Patterson, the publisher until 1931, when it was taken over by Bernarr Macfadden until 1941. At one time it was said to be "the second greatest magazine in America," ranking behind ''The Saturday Evening Post'' in circulation. It featured contributions from some of the biggest politicians, celebrities, authors, and artists of the 20th century. The contents of the magazine provide a unique look into popular culture, politics, and world events through the Roaring Twenties, Great Depression, World War II, and postwar America. It ceased publication in 1950 and was revived briefly in 1971. History ''Liberty'' Magazine was founded in 1924 by cousins Robert R. McCormick, Colonel Robert Rutherford McCormick and Joseph Medill Patterson, Captain Joseph Medill Patterson, owners and editors of the ''Chicago Tribune'' and '' ...
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Motion Picture Production Code
The Motion Picture Production Code was a set of industry guidelines for the self-censorship of content that was applied to most motion pictures released by major studios in the United States from 1934 to 1968. It is also popularly known as the Hays Code, after Will H. Hays, president of the Motion Picture Producers and Distributors of America (MPPDA) from 1922 to 1945. Under Hays's leadership, the MPPDA, later the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) and the Motion Picture Association (MPA), adopted the Production Code in 1930 and began rigidly enforcing it in 1934. The Production Code spelled out acceptable and unacceptable content for motion pictures produced for a public audience in the United States. From 1934 to 1954, the code was closely identified with Joseph Breen, the administrator appointed by Hays to enforce the code in Hollywood. The film industry followed the guidelines set by the code well into the late 1950s, but it began to weaken, owing to the combined ...
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Production Code Administration
The Motion Picture Association (MPA) is an American trade association representing the Major film studios#Present, five major film studios of the United States, as well as the video streaming service Netflix. Founded in 1922 as the Motion Picture Producers and Distributors of America (MPPDA) and known as the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) from 1945 until September 2019, its original goal was to ensure the viability of the American film industry. In addition, the MPA established guidelines for film content which resulted in the creation of the Motion Picture Production Code in 1930. This code, also known as the Hays Code, was replaced by a voluntary Motion Picture Association of America film rating system, film rating system in 1968, which is managed by the Classification and Rating Administration (CARA). The MPA has advocated for the motion picture and television industry, with the goals of promoting effective copyright protection, reducing Copyright infringement ...
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National Legion Of Decency
The National Legion of Decency, also known as the Catholic Legion of Decency, was a Catholic group founded in 1934 by Archbishop of Cincinnati, John T. McNicholas, as an organization dedicated to identifying objectionable content in motion pictures on behalf of Catholic audiences. Members were asked to pledge to patronize only those motion pictures which did not "offend decency and Christian morality". The concept soon gained support from other churches. Condemnation by the Legion would often diminish a film's chances for success because it meant the population of Catholics, some twenty million strong at the time, (plus their Protestant allies), would avoid attending any screening of the film. The efforts to help parishioners avoid films with objectionable content sometimes backfired when it was found that they helped draw attention to those films. Although the Legion was often envisioned as a bureaucratic arm of the Catholic Church, it instead was little more than a loose confed ...
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